Resources for Middle to
High School Transition
Tiers 1, 2 & 3
Resource Brief, October, 2013.
Jeaneen Erickson, Reece L. Peterson, & Paige Lembeck, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
M
iddle to high school transition applies typically to
eighth graders who would be transitioning to a high
school, as well as ninth grade students who have recently
been enrolled in a high school. While evidence suggests
that providing a variety of supports to all students making
that transition is valuable, it may be especially important to
provide even more intense supports to those students who
are at higher risk levels of dropping out. A variety of risk
calculators addressed elsewhere may be used to assess the
risk level of specific students.
May be adapted to
Tier 1, 2 or 3 Intervention
Below are listed a variety of transition programs that schools have used to address middle to
high school transition. Some of these programs also have other elements designed to prevent
students from dropping out. Several of the programs are widely used across the country while
others are specific to a school or district. These examples may provide ideas which would be
useful to emulate for schools creating these transition programs, either at the middle or high
school levels.
Talent Development High School model /Ninth-grade Academies
• “… A comprehensive school reform model developed by the Center for Research on Students
Placed at Risk, based at Johns Hopkins University, and Howard University” (Neild, 2008, p. 18).
• “Ninth Grade Academy is located in a physically separate section of the school building”
(Neild, 2008, p. 18).
• “Teachers . . . are divided into teams made up of math, English, social studies, and science
faculty who teach the same groups of students. These teams of teachers, led by a Team Leader,
meet frequently throughout the year to discuss the academic progress of their ninth graders”
(Neild, 2008, p. 18).
• Key features: 1) personalized school, 2) curricula specifically designed to help students “backfill” on skills they are lacking, 3) professional development for teachers (Neild, 2009, p. 13).
• “Study found that Talent Development ninth graders’ attendance, total credits earned, credits
earned in algebra, and on-time promotion to tenth grade exceeded those of ninth graders at the
comparison schools” (Neild, 2009, p.15).
Reference: http://web.jhu.edu/CSOS/tdhs/index.html
Examples Middle to HS Transition 2
Freshman Transition Classes
• Premise: individuals don’t work hard until they understand the benefits of their efforts.
• Course Standards for Freshman Transition Classes: blueprint for well-designed freshman
courses that not only carry the same rigor, credibility and status of traditional academic courses,
but that also increase school retention, academic achievement, and postsecondary matriculation.
• A successful standards-based Freshman Transition Course has five requirements:
1) A 10-year education and career plan for every student.
2) A curriculum that meets the Course Standards for Freshman Transition Classes.
3) Well-qualified teachers.
4) Leadership continuity over the first four years.
5) A systemic and sustainable school-wide implementation initiative.
• Can be applied as a stand-alone eighth- or ninth-grade freshman transition class, used as the
foundation for freshman academies or career pathway programs, or integrated into academic
courses such as English, social studies and mathematics.
• Standards provide content and themes that enable students to understand why high school
matters (Dedmond, 2008).
• “A 10-Step Plan” in Appendix (Dedmond, 2005).
Reference: www.freshmantransition.org
SummerBridge
• “Provides incoming ninth-grade students with enriching summer activities that give academic
support, advancement, and motivation to excel in high school through career-related field trips
and other relevant activities” (Cohen & Smerdon, 2009, p.5).
Reference: http://www.adlit.org/article/33371; http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-1/summer.html
Freshmen Centers
• “… Organizational structure to combat poor performance in ninth grade” (Smith et al., 2008,
p. 2).
• “… Create a sense of community often absent in a large high school and to ease the academic
and social transition from middle school to high school” (Smith et al., 2008, p. 2).
• “… Operate more like middle schools than traditional high schools, including the use of teaming, where the larger student body is arranged in houses or teams that share a set of teachers”
(Smith, 2008, p. 2).
Examples Middle to HS Transition 3
• “There is relatively little research on the impact of freshmen centers on students’ outcomes
and no research on the role of freshmen centers on educational transition” (Smith, 2008, p. 2).
Reference: http://wyomingdropoutprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Student-and-Stakeholder-Perceptions-of-9th-Grade-Transitions.pdf (Journal Article: Smith, J. S., Akos, P., Lim, S., & Wiley, S. (2008). Student and stakeholder
perceptions of the transition to high school. High School Journal, 91(3), 32-42.)
SUCCESS (Students Under Cluster Care Experience School Success)
Frederick County (Maryland) Public Schools, Brunswick Middle School and Brunswick High
School
• Middle school and high school collaboration program
• “Teams of two or three teachers from each school building meet every other month to discuss and share instructional issues, and assessment data on students” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.
3).
• “SUCCESS teams receive reports from each school administrator after monthly meetings at
which all school administrators discuss common issues and develop common practices that are
instituted in all their schools” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p. 3).
Reference: No website- see Oakes & Waite citation.
Multi-Strategy Program
Frederick County (Maryland) Public Schools, Brunswick Middle School and Brunswick High
School
• “Posters that depict “The Ideal Brunswick Graduate” are posted throughout Brunswick
schools and community buildings, outlining key characteristics of what each Brunswick student
will know and be able to do when he or she graduates” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
• “Brunswick guidance counselors meet with eighth graders to share information about high
school courses and the academic and social expectations in high school” (Oakes & Waite, 2009,
p.4).
• “… Write a personal four-year plan for their high-school career with supporting information
from their teachers, parents, and guidance counselors” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
• “These plans are sent home to parents, kept in students’ school files, and used to help students select their classes during ninth-grade registration” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
• “… Monitored over the course of their high-school careers, to match eighth-grade planning
with the four years of high-school reality “(Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
Reference: No website- See Oakes & Waite citation.
Examples Middle to HS Transition 4
“Charting the Course” Assemblies, Hammond Middle School (Laurel, Maryland)
• “… Assemblies for their eighth graders, showing a movie—Charting the Course—that directly
addresses issues that transitioning teens might encounter” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
• “… Strive to engage students in dialogue about the issues presented in the movie” (Oakes &
Waite, 2009, p.4).
• “… Former Hammond students, now ninth and tenth graders, have a roundtable discussion
onstage with a representative group of current Hammond eighth graders, in front of the eighth
graders’ peers” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
• “The roundtable is meant to ground the issues of the movie in the reality of Hammond’s
eighth graders” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
• “Student attendance and achievement are on the rise, and both parents and students voice
their appreciation for the activities that provide them with information and support to make the
change a successful one” (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.4).
Reference: No website- See Oakes & Waite citation.
Sequoyah Middle School
(Doraville, Georgia) and Cross Keys High School (Atlanta, Georgia)
• Each eighth grade student “is paired with a ninth or tenth grade student for a full day, seeing
classes and extracurricular activities through the eyes of that student” (Oakes & Waite, 2009,
p.5).
• “Each visiting eighth grader receives a transition packet, with a picture of his or her counselor.
Students keep the same counselor for all four years” at the high school (Oakes & Waite, 2009,
p.5).
• Summer bridge program: incoming ninth graders attend a week of orientation at the high
school, separating the sexes, allowing teachers to address academic and social issues, some of
which might be gender specific (Oakes & Waite, 2009, p.5).
Reference: No website-See Oakes & Waite citation.
Project Transition
Pulaski High School (Milwaukee), Schlagle High School (Kansas City, KS)
• Key levers for change: “a more personalized school environment for teachers and students”
(Neild, 2009, p.12).
• “… Ninth-grade teachers and students were placed on inter¬disciplinary teams of four core
subject teachers and approximately 120 students” (Neild, 2009, p.12).
• “… Teachers had daily common planning time and a coach whose role was to facilitate teacher
meetings, coordinate professional development, and provide constructive feedback on lessons
that teachers offered“ (Neild, 2009, p.12).
Reference: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/72/execsum.html
Examples Middle to HS Transition 5
Recommended Citation:
Erickson, J., Peterson, R. L. & Lembeck, P. (2013, May). Resources for middle to high school transition.
Resource Brief. Lincoln, NE: Student Engagement Project, University of Nebraska. http://k12engagement.unl.edu/resources-middle-high-school-transition-planning.
.
Note: This document is a supplement to:
Erickson, J. & Peterson, R. L. (2013, March). Middle to High School Transition, Strategy brief. Lincoln, NE:
Student Engagement Project, University of Nebraska. http://k12engagement.unl.edu/middle-tohigh-school-transition.
Middle to High School Transition Resource References
Dedmond, R. (2005). A personalized plan for life. Principal Leadership, 6(3), 16-21.
Dedmond, R. (2008). Launching students into their decade of transition. Techniques: Connecting Education and
Careers, 83(4), 14-19.
Neild, R. (2008). Connecting entrance and departure: The transition to ninth grade and high school dropout. Education and Urban Society, 40(5), 543-569.
Neild, R. (2009). Falling off track during the transition to high school: What we know and what can be done. Future
of Children, 19(1), 53-76.
Oakes, A., & Waite, W. (2009, May 1). Middle-to-high-school transition practical strategies to consider. Center for
Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, 1-6.
Smith, J. S. (2006). Research summary: Transition from middle school to high school. Retrieved from: http://www.
nmsa.org/Research/ResearchSummaries/TransitionfromMStoHS/tabid/1087/Default.aspx
Smith, J. S., Akos, P., Lim, S., & Wiley, S. (2008). Student and stakeholder perceptions of the transition to high
school. High School Journal, 91(3), 32-42.
http://k12engagement.unl.edu
© 2013 Reece L. Peterson, Barkley Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0732; [email protected].
Supported by Nebraska Department of Education Project 94-2810-248-1B1-13 (USDE Grant #HO27A110079).
Contents do not necessarily represent the policy of NDE or USDE, and no endorsement should be assumed.
Permission to duplicate is granted for non-commercial use by school personnel working in school settings.